Apparatus for inserting tablets into blister packages

ABSTRACT

An apparatus for filling tablets into blister packages, including a lower assembly which provides a vibrating guide for directing elongate thermoplastic strips longitudinally through the apparatus. A movable carriage reciprocates above the lower assembly and carries a plurality of brushes in rotary contact with the top surface of the thermoplastic strips of material. A portion of said brushes are transversely disposed with respect to the elongate thermoplastic strips and are rotatively journalled within the carriage assembly. Other of said brushes circularly rotate with respect to the elongate strips and combine with the transverse brushes to thoroughly sweep the entire top surface of the strips to urge medicinal tablets and the like into depending blisters which are formed in the thermoplastic strips.

United States Patent 1 Nichols [54] APPARATUS FOR INSERTING TABLETS INTOBLISTER PACKAGES [75] Inventor: Matthew Nichols, Norristown, Pa.

[73] Assignee: Sauter Packaging Company, Souderton, Pa.

[22] Filed: May 10, 1971 [21] Appl. No.2 141,762

[52] US. Cl ..53/250 [51] Int. Cl. .1365!) 5/00 [58] Field of Search..53/250, 253, 246, 247, 254,

[ Apr. 3, 1973 2,943,428 7/1960 Stroop ..53l78 UX PrimaryExaminer-Travis S. McGehee Assistant Examiner-Horace M. CulverAttorneyLouis Necho [57] ABSTRACT An apparatus for filling tablets intoblister packages, including a lower assembly which provides a vibratingguide for directing elongate thermoplastic strips [ongitudinally throughthe apparatus. A movable carriage reciprocates above the lower assemblyand carries a plurality of brushes in rotary contact with the topsurface of the thermoplastic strips of material. A portion [56]References Cited of said brushes are transversely disposed with respectto the elongate thermoplastic strips and are rotatlvely UNITED STATESPATENTS journalled within the carriage assembly. Other of said 3,490,1971/1970 brushes circularly rotate with respect to the elongate 2846 8308/1958 strips and combine with the transverse brushes to 2:732:9871/1956 thoroughly sweep the entire top surface of the strips to3,389,531 6/1968 urge medicinal tablets and the like into depending3,354,607 11/1967 blisters which are formed in the thermoplastic strips.2,949,997 8/1960 3,628,694 12/1971 6 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures '54 A 795g 86 9# I 2 /a a F s e 42 0:2

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sum 5 BF 5 //VV4/7dl. MATTHEW NICHOLS APPARATUS FOR INSERTING TABLETSINTO BLISTER PACKAGFS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present inventionrelates to the general field of medicinal tablet packaging, and moreparticularly, is directed to an apparatus for rapidly filling tabletsindividually into pre-formed blisters in a thermoplastic strip as thestrip moves longitudinally through the apparatus.

In the interest of sanitation, speed, accuracy in dispensing, and ininventory control, it has become increasingly the practice ininstitutions such as hospitals and nursing homes to require medicinaltablets to be packaged sealed in spaced blisters which are formed in acontinuous strip of thermoplastic material. The thermoplastic materialstrip may be perforated transversely between blisters .to facilitateseparation into any desired number of tablet dosages by the users. Bythis arrangement, if a patient is to get, say two tablets of a givenmedication at a time, the hospital or nursing home dispensary pharmacistsimply can sever the desired number of tablet-containing blisters fromthe elongate strip and then deliver them to the nurse on duty. Thisprocedure insures against unsanitary handling of the tablets and enablesthe dispensary to control the inventory in a precise manner. Bypackaging the tablets in transparent thermoplastic strips, the tabletsmay be viewed directly through the blisters to permit visual inspectionof the tablets to insure against possibly dispensing the wrongmedication.

If all of the tablets dispensed in the hospitals and nursing homes wereof the same size and shape, presently available equipment could beemployed to adequately fill the blisters without problem. But it is theusual practice to formulate medication in tablet or capsule form of manydifferent sizes and shapes, and this has heretofore made it necessary tochange the size of the blister according to the size of the tablet to besealed within the blister and to alter the filling machinery each timethe tablet size was changed. Changing the die and other parts whichcooperate in forming and filling the blisters involves largeexpenditures, both in material costs and in the labor costs necessary toadapt the equipment for another size tablet. Because of the set-up timerequired, the cost of utilizing the prior art devices has beendisproportionate to the results obtained.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates generally to anapparatus for individually packaging medicinal tablets of various sizeswithout requiring individual setup, and more particularly, includesbrush means to uniformly sweep the medicinal tablets into pre-formedblisters in an elongate thermoplastic strip.

' The instant device includes a lower assembly which is provided withvibrating means and which serves as a guide for thermoplastic strips asthey longitudinally feed through the apparatus. The elongate strips arepreformed in accordance with known procedures to provide a plurality ofdepending blisters for receipt of medicinal tablets which are to beindividually packaged therein. The lower assembly includes vibratingmeans to facilitate individually loading tablets into each preformed,depending blister in a rapid, accurate manner.

A carriage assembly reciprocates above the lower assembly and carries aplurality of rotary brushes which journal within the carriage assemblyfor rotary, peripheral contact with the surface of the thermoplasticstrips. The brushes co-operate to sweep medicinal tablets across thesurface of the thermoplastic strips and are arranged to sweep tabletscompletely across the entire surface of the elongate strips. In thismanner, when a tablet registers with a depending blister, the tabletfalls into the blister to thereby fill the same for packaging purposes.Once a blister has been filled with a medicinal tablet, the brushesserve to sweep other tablets away from the filled blister thereby toassure that only one tablet is filled into each blister.

Some of said carriage assembly brushes transversely position withrespect to the longitudinal axis of the thermoplastic strip and journalwithin the carriage assembly structure for transverse rotation above thethermoplastic strip. Other of said brushes journal within the carriageassembly and are arranged for circular rotation above the thermoplasticstrip. The transverse brushes and the circular brushes co-operate toprovide complete sweeping action above the top surface of thethermoplastic strip so that medicinal tablets are evenly and uniformlydistributed over the surface to assure that each depending blister isproperly filled as the thermoplastic strip is longitudinally fed throughthe apparatus. The carriage assembly is reciprocal with respect to thelower assembly. The reciprocating motion of the carriage combines withthe rotary and circular motions of the brushes to insure positivetabletfilling into all of the depending blisters without requiring anymanual operations, and with a minimum of setup procedure.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide improvedapparatus for filling tablets into blister packages of the type setforth.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a novelapparatus for filling tablets into blister packages which incorporates avibrating lower assembly which supports an elongate web of blisterpreformed thermoplastic material and includes guide means for directingthe elongate web through the apparatus.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an improvedapparatus for filling tablets into blister packages which includes avibrating lower assembly for guiding elongate, blistercontainingthermoplastic strips and a cooperating upper assembly which includes acarriage having reciprocal motion with respect to the lower assembly.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a novelapparatus for filling tablets into blister packages including lowerassembly means for guiding an elongate strip of thermoplastic materialhaving preformed blisters depending therefrom longitudinally through theapparatus, and an upper carriage reciprocal above the elongate strip,said upper carriage including brush means to sweep medicinal tabletsalong the surface of the said elongate strip.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a novelapparatus for filling tablets into preformed blister packages whichincludes means to support an elongate blister-containing web andcarriage means reciprocal above the web, said carriage means rotativelycarrying brushes to sweep the top surface of the web, some of saidbrushes arranged transversely to the axis of the web and other of saidbrushes having circular motion with respect to the axis of the web.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a novelapparatus for filling tablets into blister packages that is rugged inconstruction, entirely automatic in use and trouble-free in operation.

Other objects and a fuller understanding of the invention will be had byreferring to the following description and claims of a preferredembodiment thereof, taken into conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings, wherein like reference characters refer to similar partsthroughout the several views, and in which:

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a side elevational view ofthe apparatus for filling tablets into blister packages in accordancewith the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view taken along line 2 2 of FIG. 1 lookingin the direction of the arrows.

FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view taken along line 3 3 of FIG. 1 lookingin the direction of the arrows.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged, cross sectional view taken along line 4 4 of FIG.3, looking in the direction of the arrows. I

FIG. 5 is a cross sectional view taken along line 5 5 of FIG. 4, lookingin the direction of the arrows.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged cross sectional view taken along line 6 6 of FIG.4, looking in the direction of the arrows.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION Althoughspecific terms are used in the following description for the sake ofclarity, these term are intended to refer only to the particularstructure of my invention selected for illustration in the drawings andare not intended to define or limit the scope of the invention.

Referring now to the drawings, the apparatus for filling tablets intoblister packages is generally designated 10 and includes a lowerassembly A which is generally stationary except for the effect of thelower vibrator 12. An upper assembly B positions above the lowerassembly A and is generally stationary except for the carriage portion14 thereof which has reciprocal motion with respect to the lowerassembly A and moves up and down stream while the brushes are inoperation. The upper assembly B also includes a tablet-feeding hopper 16which deposits a plurality of tablets (not shown), upon a transversefeed chute 18 which vibrates through action of the upper vibrator 20 tointroduce the tablets to the lower assembly A.

The lower assembly A incorporates a stationary base 22 which issupported upon a solid surface such as a building floor (not shown) toform a sturdy support for the tablet filling apparatus 10. A platform 24secures to the base 22 and carries the lower vibrator 12 in conventionalmanner. The lower vibrator 12 affixesto the platform 24 through the useof bolts 26 or other suitable fastening construction suitable for thepurpose. A longitudinal guide 28 is horizontally carried above thestationary base 22 and has its underside affixed to the vibrator arm 30of the lower vibrator 12 in well-known manner such as by welding.Energization of the lower vibrator 12 vibrates the arm 30 and theaffixed longitudinal guide 28 in a manner to facilitate tablet fillingas hereinafter more fully set forth. As best seen in FIG. 2, thelongitudinal guide 28 includes a plurality of spaced, longitudinallydisposed strips 32, which define longitudinal troughs 34 therebetween.Similarly, the longitudinal troughs 36 which are equal in dimension tothe troughs 34 are defined between each transverse guide edge 38, 40,and its adjacent strip 32. It is contemplated that elongate,thermoplastic strips (not shown) having depending blisters (not shown)pre-formed therein, will be longitudinally urged through the apparatus10 by equipment external to the present apparatus. The thermoplasticstrips may be similar to thermoplastic strips fully described in mycopending application titled Apparatus for Packaging Medicinal Tabletsor the Like, Ser. No. 26,616, filed Apr. 8, 1970, now US. Pat. No.3,628,694. The guide strips 32 -will position between adjacenttransverse rows of the elongate thermoplastic strips through theapparatus. A single wide strip or a plurality of narrow strips could beaccommodated in this manner. Vibration of the longitudinal guide 28under urging of the lower vibrator 12 will also serve to vibrate thethermoplastic strips (not shown) as they feed through the v apparatus 10upon the longitudinal guide 28.

The upper assembly B has the carriage portion 14 thereof registeredabove the lower assembly A for pill sweeping purposes as hereinaftermore fully set forth.

The upper assembly B is stationary upon its respective transversesupports 42, 44, with the exception of the carriage portion 14 whichreciprocates up and downstream with respect to the longitudinal guide 28when the carriage brushes 46, 48, 50, 52, are in operation.

A tablet feeding hopper 16 of conventional design secures to fixedportions of the upper assembly B and feeds medicinal tablets (not shown)by gravity upon the transverse feed chute 18. The feed chute 18 is inthe form of the open trough of generally U-shaped configuration whichregisters beneath the hopper opening 54 to receive the medicinal tabletsby action of the forces of gravity. The chute l8 transversely positionsbeside the longitudinal guide 28 and has its inward terminus 56overlying a portion of the guide inwardly from the guide edge 40 so thatmedicinal tablets from the hopper 16 may be introduced upon the topsurface of the guide 28. Thus, when a thermoplastic strip (not shown) isurged through the longitudinal guide 28, the tablets (also not shown)will fall upon the surface of thermoplastic strip itself so that thetablets may then be swept into the depending blisters (not shown) by thecooperating action of the brushes 46, 48, 50, and 52, as they sweepacross the top surface of the thermoplastic strip. An upper vibrator 20bolts or otherwise secures to a portion of the transverse support 44 bymeans of the upper vibrator bolts 58 and has its vibrator arm 60 affixedto the feed chute 18 in secure manner such as by welding. Accordingly,upon operation of the upper vibrator 20, the feed chute 18 is caused tovibrate to shake or oscillate sufiiciently to cause the medicinaltablets to flow toward the terminus 56 of the chute 18 to fall, thereby,by gravity upon the top of the thermoplastic strips (not shown), as theytravel across the longitudinal guide 28.

The upper assembly B includes a forward vertical support 62 and arearward vertical support 64 which carry the carriage portion 14, thehopper 16, and feed chute 18, therebetween. A pair of longitudinallydisposed, horizontally spaced guide rods 66, 68, secure between theforward and rearward supports 62, 64, to facilitate carriage portiontravel in reciprocal manner between the supports. As best seen in FIGS.2 and 3, the carriage potion 14 includes a cross head 70 which isprovided with longitudinal, spaced, cylindrical openings 72, 74, toreceive the guide rods 66, 68, therein in sliding engagement tofacilitate carriage reciprocation above the longitudinal guide 28. Anactivating cylinder 76, which may be of the hydraulic or pneumatic type,has its stationary end 78 affixed to the forward support 62 by means ofa bolted connection 80. The piston rod secures to the bracket 82 in athreaded connection 84 and functions to reciprocate the cross head 70along the guide rods 66, 68, in response to activation of the cylinder76. Thus, energization of the cylinder 76 activates the piston rod 86 topush to crosshead 70 rearwardly with respect to the forward support 62.De-energization of the cylinder 76 allows the piston rod 86 to return toits initial position, thereby pulling the crosshead 70 forwardly alongthe guide rails 66, 68.

As best seen in FIG. 5, the crosshead 70 terminates laterially in a pairof depending, spaced side carriers 88, 90, which register above therespective longitudinal guide edges 38, 40, and expose the entiresurface area of the longitudinal troughs 34, 36, therebetween. A pair oftransverse, rotary brushes 46, 48, turn about their respective shafts92, 94, in vertical spaced relationship above the longitudinal guide 28in precise vertical alignment so that the peripheral edges of thebrushes 46, 48, sweep the top surface of the longitudinal guide 28. Itwill be appreciated that when a thermoplastic strip (not shown), havingdepending blisters formed therein is urged through the apparatus uponthe longitudinal guide 28, the brushes 46, 48, will contact the topsurface of the thermoplastic strip for medicinal tablet sweepingpurposes. The brush shafts 92, 94, journal within the side carriers 88,90, and serve to rotate the brushes 46, 48, as the carriage portion 14reciprocates upon the guide rails 66, 68, in response to function of thecylinder 76. A motor 96 mounts upon the top of the cross head 70 andpowers a driving sprocket 98 in conventional manner. Each of the brushshafts 92, 94, terminates outwardly from the side carrier 88 in a drivensprocket 100, 102, for brush rotative purposes. An endless chaininterconnects the driving and driven sprockets 98, 100, 102, inconventional manner to rotate the brushes 46, 48, in response tooperation of the electrical motor 96. See FIG. 1.

A second electrical motor 106 mounts upon the crosshead 70 rearwardly ofthe motor 96 and has its power shaft 108 depending vertically throughthe cross head 70 for circular operation of the brushes 50, 52, ashereinafter more fully set forth. It will be noted that the brushes 50,52, rotate in a vertical plane about the respective horizontal shafts110, 112, and also circularly rotate in a horizontal plane about thepower shaft 108. See FIGS. 3 and 6. The peripheral edges of the brushes50, 52, contact the top surface of the longitudinal guide 28 andsimilarly will sweep the top surface of elongate thermoplastic strips(not shown) when they are urged forwardly through the machine upon thelongitudinal guide 28. The sweeping action of the brushes 50, 52, inboth the vertical plane and the horizontal plane in co-operation withthe transverse brushes 46, 48, insures complete sweeping action oftablets across the surface of the thermoplastic strip during themedicinal tablet-filling operations.

Referring now to FIG. 6, the operation of the brushes 50, 52, will bedescribed in detail. The electrical motor 106 mounts upon the crossheadin secure manner, such as by conventional machine bolts 1 14, so thatthe motor 106 and its afi'ixed power shaft 108 and circular brushes 50,52, reciprocate with the reciprocation of the carriage portion 14 fortablet sweeping purposes. A bearing member 116 positions through thecrosshead 70 and stationarily carries the vertical sleeve 118. A shaftextension rotates within the sleeve 118 and journals within the sleeveaffixed upper and lower bearings 122, 124. The shaft extension 120terminates upwardly in a connecting socket 126 which affixes to thepower shaft 108 in conventional manner, such as by the set screw 128.Thus, the power shaft 108 and the shaft extension 120 freely rotate uponenergization of the electrical motor 106 .and the bearing member 116 andits aflixed vertical sleeve 118 remain stationarily affixed to thecrosshead 70 during all periods of operation.

A gear box 130 encloses an upper bevel gear 132 which stationarilyaflixes to the lower terminus of the vertical sleeve 1 l8 and a powerbevel gear 134 which is affixed to the lower terminus of the shaftextension 120 and is rotated simultaneously with the shaft extension. Apair of right and left brush operating bevel gears 136, 138, meshrespectively with the bevel gears 132, 134, for brush operation ashereinafter more fully set forth. The gear box 130 downwardly houses athrust bearing in conventional manner to accommodate axial thrust forceswhich may be generated along the power shaft 108 and shaft extension120. The upper portion of the gear box 130 enclosesa ball bearing 142 ofconventional design which has its inner race 144 affixed to the verticalsleeve 118. The ball bearing 142 and thrust bearing 140 co-operate toallow the gear box 130 to be freely rotatable about the bottom portionof the vertical sleeve 118. Thus, rotation of the power shaft 108 andshaft extension 120 by the electrical motor 106 serve to rotate theshaft extension affixed power bevel gear 134. Rotation of the powerbevel gear 134 is transmitted to the brush bevel gears 136, 138, whichmesh with the power bevel gear 134. Rotation of the brush operatingbevel gears 136, 138, imposes rotative forces upon the stationary,sleeve-affixed, upper bevel gear 132. Inasmuch as the upper bevel gear132 cannot rotate about the sleeve 118, rotative forces imposed byrotation of the power bevel gear 134 are then. transmitted directly tothe gear box 130 to cause the gear box to rotate about the ball bearing142 and the thrust bearing 140, upon operation of the motor 106. Thus,power supplied by the motor 106 serves to rotate the gear box 130 in ahorizontal plane and also, thereby, circularly rotates the brushes 50,52.

Each brush so, 52, affixes to its associated horizontal shaft 110, 112,by means of a sleeve 148 and set screw 146 in conventional manner toassure positive rotation of the brushes 50, 52, upon rotation of thehorizontal shafts 110, 112. The horizontal shafts 110, 112, journalthrough the gear box 130 sidewalls in conventional manner and turn aboutball bearings 148, 150, which are secured in the gear box construction.Each horizontal shaft 110, 112, inwardly affixes to its associated brushoperating bevel gear 136, 138, in conventional manner to rotate when itsassociated bevel gear is rotated. Thus, rotative forces imposed upon thepower bevel gear 134 by the motor 106 respectively rotates thehorizontal shafts 110, 112, through the meshed brush operating bevelgears 136, 138. Rotation of the horizontal shafts 110, 112, causessimilar rotary action of the brushes 50, 52, for medicinaltablet-sweeping purposes. The brush operating bevel gears 136, 138, meshwith the stationary upper bevel gear 132 to cause simultaneous circularaction about the vertical power shaft 108 and shaft extension 120, androtary action about the respective horizontal shafts 110, 112.

In order to use my invention, elongate strips of thermoplastic material(not shown), with longitudinal rows of depending blisters pre-formedtherein (also not shown), are introduced into the intake end 152 of thelongitudinal guide 28 with the respective rows of depending blistersextending into the longitudinal troughs 34, 36, so that the top of thethermoplastic strips closely overlie the top of the longitudinal strips32. A plurality of medicinal tablets (not shown), are fed into thehopper 16 wherein they fall by gravity through the hopper opening 54upon the transverse feed chute 18. Energization of the upper vibrator 20vibrates the vibrator-arm 60 and the affixed feed chute 18, causing themedicinal tablets to travel transversely across the feed chute 18 underthe additional influence of the forces of gravity imposed by the gravityfeed from the hopper 16 until the medicinal tablets fall from theterminus 56 of the feed chute 18 upon the top surface of thethermoplastic strips (not shown). The lower vibrator 12 serves tovibrate the longitudinal guide 28 and the affixed longitudinal strips 32through the lower vibrator arm 30. .Vibration of the longitudinal guide28 serves to disperse the medicinal tablets about the surface of thethermoplastic strip by gravity action. Means are provided (not shown),to pull the strips having the depending blisters forwardly through theapparatus for blister filling purposes in well known manner. Thus, thetablets introduced at the feed chute 18 move forwardly through theapparatus upon the thermoplastic strips and into registry below thecarriage portion 14. As hereinbefore set forth, the carriage portion 14has reciprocal motion with respect to the longitudinal guide 28 by meansof the cylinder 76 and so sweeps over the surface of the thermoplasticstrip at a rate greater than the rate in which the strip travels throughthe apparatus 10.

The transverse brushes 46, 48, contact the top surface of thethermoplastic strips and tend to sweep all medicinal tablets remainingupon the surface of the strip rearwardly for blister filling purposes..Similarly, the circular brushes 50, 52, sweep across the top of thethermoplastic strip and the circular motion imposed by the operation ofthe motor 106 assures that all portions of the thermoplastic strip areequally treated for pillfilling purposes. Thus, any medicinal tabletsremaining upon the surface of the thermoplastic strip will be sweptrearwardly by the combined operation of the horizontal transversebrushes 46, 48, and the motion of the circular brushes 50, 52. Anymedicinal tablet that is swept into registry with a depending blisterwill fall into that blister and out of contact with the brushes so itcan no longer be rearwardly swept by the action of the brushes 46, 48,50, 52. Should a second medicinal tablet register over a first tabletwhich has already been positioned within a depending blister, the secondtablet will remain exposed at the surface of the thermoplastic strip andso will be contacted by the brushes to be swept out of registry with thefilled blister. The operation is conducted at predetermined sufficientspeed to insure that the tablets are swept completely across the surfaceof the thermoplastic strip, so that all blisters are positively filledbefore they leave the upper and lower assembly areas. Tablets willremain upon the surface of a thermoplastic strip as it is pulled throughthe apparatus until such time as each tablet is individually swept intoan empty depending blister. After the completely filled thermoplasticstrip exits the filling apparatus 10, the individual tablets may besealed in known manner within their associate blisters by otherapparatus not forming part of the filling apparatus.

The combination of the rotary action of the transverse brushes 46, 48,rotating in a vertical plane, the circular action of the circularbrushes 50, 52, which circularly rotate in a horizontal plane, thereciprocating movement of the carriage 14 with respect to thelongitudinal guide 28 and the vibrating action of the longitudinal guideall cooperate to assure positive filling of each depending blisterbefore it exits the apparatus.

What 1 claim is:

l. in an apparatus for inserting tablets into blisters which are formedin thermoplastic strips, the combina-' tion of A. a lower assemblysupported in stationary position and including generally horizontal,longitudinally disposed guide means;

B. an upper assembly having a portion thereof in vertical registry overthe guide means,

1. said upper assembly including tablet feed means and carriage means,

2. said tablet feed means introducing tablets onto the guide means atthe top surface thereof,

3. said carriage means carrying a plurality of brushes in rotatingarrangement,

a said brushes sweeping the top of the guide means to contact thetablets and to move the tablets relative to the guide means; and

C. reciprocating means provided in the carriage means to longitudinallyreciprocate the plurality of riers holding the one said brush intransverse position relative to the guide means.

3. The invention of claim 2 wherein the reciprocating means furtherinclude a drive motor and a vertical power shaft which is rotated by thedrive motor, said power shaft circularly rotating at least onehorizontal shaft, and wherein a second of said plurality of brushes iscarried upon the horizontal shaft, the said power shaft circularlyrevolving the second brush over the guide means.

4. The invention of claim 3 wherein the power shaft and horizontal shaftare interconnected by gear means, the said gear means serving to rotatethe horizontal shaft and the affixed second brush in a vertical plane,simultaneously as the horizontal shaft and second brush are circularlyrevolved.

5. The invention of claim 4 wherein the reciprocating means include avertical sleeve which is affixed to the carriage means and wherein thepower shaft rotates within the sleeve, the reciprocating means furtherincluding a stationary gear which is affixed to the sleeve.

6. The invention of claim 5 wherein the power shaft is provided at itslower terminus with a drive gear, the drive gear being spaced from thestationary gear and wherein the horizontal shaft carries a driven gear,the said driven gear intercommunicating between the stationary gear andthe power gear, the said power gear rotating the driven gear in avertical plane and circularly revolving the horizontal shaft and theaffixed second brush above the guide means.

1. IN AN APPARATUS FOR INSERTING TABLETS INTO BLISTERS WHICH ARE FORMEDIN THERMOPLASTIC STRIPS, THE COMBINATION OF A. a lower assemblysupported in stationary position and including generally horizontal,longitudinally disposed guide means; B. an upper assembly having aportion thereof in vertical registry over the guide means,
 1. said upperassembly including tablet feed means and carriage means,
 2. said tabletfeed means introducing tablets onto the guide means at the top surfacethereof,
 3. said carriage means carrying a plurality of brushes inrotating arrangement, a said brushes sweeping the top of the guide meansto contact the tablets and to move the tablets relative to the guidemeans; and C. reciprocating means provided in the carriage means tolongitudinally reciprocate the plurality of brushes relative to theguide means.
 2. said tablet feed means introducing tablets onto theguide means at the top surface thereof,
 2. The invention of claim 1wherein the reciprocAting means includes a pair of spaced side carrierswhich are longitudinally disposed relative to the guide means andwherein at least one of said plurality of brushes in rotativelyjournalled within the side carriers, said side carriers holding the onesaid brush in transverse position relative to the guide means.
 3. Theinvention of claim 2 wherein the reciprocating means further include adrive motor and a vertical power shaft which is rotated by the drivemotor, said power shaft circularly rotating at least one horizontalshaft, and wherein a second of said plurality of brushes is carried uponthe horizontal shaft, the said power shaft circularly revolving thesecond brush over the guide means.
 3. said carriage means carrying aplurality of brushes in rotating arrangement, a said brushes sweepingthe top of the guide means to contact the tablets and to move thetablets relative to the guide means; and C. reciprocating means providedin the carriage means to longitudinally reciprocate the plurality ofbrushes relative to the guide means.
 4. The invention of claim 3 whereinthe power shaft and horizontal shaft are interconnected by gear means,the said gear means serving to rotate the horizontal shaft and theaffixed second brush in a vertical plane, simultaneously as thehorizontal shaft and second brush are circularly revolved.
 5. Theinvention of claim 4 wherein the reciprocating means include a verticalsleeve which is affixed to the carriage means and wherein the powershaft rotates within the sleeve, the reciprocating means furtherincluding a stationary gear which is affixed to the sleeve.
 6. Theinvention of claim 5 wherein the power shaft is provided at its lowerterminus with a drive gear, the drive gear being spaced from thestationary gear and wherein the horizontal shaft carries a driven gear,the said driven gear intercommunicating between the stationary gear andthe power gear, the said power gear rotating the driven gear in avertical plane and circularly revolving the horizontal shaft and theaffixed second brush above the guide means.